Monorail, Metro and more buses to rev up transport

Delhi’s first monorail, expansion of the Delhi Metro network and more low-floor buses are some of the measures chief minister Sheila Diskhit announced for the road and transport sector in her budget speech on Monday. HT reports.

Delhi’s first monorail, expansion of the Delhi Metro network and more low-floor buses are some of the measures chief minister Sheila Diskhit announced for the road and transport sector in her budget speech on Monday.

With 65% of budget allocation, social service may have emerged as the government’s focus area but the transport sector that entails better road infrastructure and improved public transport still has the required attention.

Delhi government has kept Rs 3,372 crore, 22% of the total planned allocation of Rs 15,000 crore this year, for improvement of transport in the Capital.

“We will continue to improve the road infrastructure by upgrading roads for which the government has assumed responsibility from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. We also intend to make Outer Ring Road signal free,” Dikshit said in her second budget speech.

The extension of Barapullah road up to INA Market and construction of an elevated road between Azadpur and Prembari Pul in north Delhi to make Ring Road signal free are other road infrastructure projects that the government will take up this financial year. To cost about Rs 2,400 crore, Delhi Cabinet approved these projects in a meeting held last week.

While Metro expansion programme under Phase III is going on in full swing, Dikshit said her government would take up the first monorail project to improve multi-modal public transport system in Delhi. The government has also decided to buy 600 new low-floor buses to replace the ageing fleet of standard floor DTC buses this year.

Dikshit said the number of private buses being run under the cluster scheme will also go up from 265 to 1,000 in 2012-13.